Visualization and PIV Measurement of the Flow around and inside of a Falling Droplet

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ninomiya, N. | Yasuda, K.

Affiliations: Department of Energy and Environmental Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Utsunomiya University, 7-1-2 Yoto, Utsunomiya, Tochigi 321-8585, Japan. E-mail: nino@utmu.jp | ASMO Co. Ltd., 90 Umeda, Kosai, Shizuoka 431-0493, Japan

Abstract: Although the phenomena related to the multiphase flow can be found in many kinds of industrial and engineering applications, the physical mechanism of the multiphase flow has not been investigated in detail. The major reason for the lack of data in the multiphase flow lies in the difficulties in measuring the flow quantities of the multiple phases simultaneously. Presently, the visualization and the PIV measurement have been carried out about the both phases of the liquid-liquid two-phase flow. The difference in the refractive indices makes the visualization in the vicinity of the boundary of the multiple phases very difficult. In this study, the refractive index of the aqueous phase has been equalized to that of the oil phase by adjusting the concentration of the aqueous solution. As for the surrounding fluid, silicon oil is chosen and as for the droplet, the aqueous solution of glycerol is prepared whose refractive index matches that of silicon oil. Both phases are seeded with neutrally buoyant particles. The droplet is slightly colored with Rhodamine B so that the position of the invisible droplet can be identified. The difference in the background brightness in both phases helps PIV algorithm in distinguishing the motions in each phases. The results show the details of the flow structures both around and inside of a falling droplet simultaneously.

Keywords: Visualization, PIV, Index matching, Droplet, Two-phase flow

Journal: Journal of Visualization, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 257-264, 2006